Fruit Flies

[Earthgoddess]

Okay, I feel very silly but this is driving me insane. My 4 year old has a hermit crab and we fed it(the crab,not the kid) a grape- and now I have fruit flies on my screen. I keep thinking that I placed a punctuation mark then it flies away...affecting both my grammar and my sanity...I took all applicable precautions and threw it away(the grape,not the crab), I cleaned it's little home and even rinsed off the crab...but still the flies..AAARRGGHH.....THE FLIES...So my question here is fruit flies how much longer will the torment me..please do not tell me to spray, we only use earth friendly products and the damn grape that caused this was organic...stupid ecosystem...help!!!:0

 

[MADDOG]

And you call yourself and earthgoddess...

 

[Lasher]

SPRAY IT!!

 

[Nicole]

RAOTFLMAO @ Lasher

Lasher you just kill me

Thanks for that it made my day

 

[Earthgoddess]

Lasher,I am thrilled to have finally met you,but a fruit fly genocide can not occur via chemical means...God knows I want them gone, my screen is smeared with their remains, but-
SPRAY???

 

[Guest]

Sprinkling boric acid where they land, or baiting a small dish with a piece of fruit with the inert powder around will take care of any insect (especially the nesters). Short of that Seven also works wonders. Just put some of either powder out where they are active and make sure things are clean, clean, clean.
AJ

 

[Skibum]

Originally posted by Lasher99:
SPRAY IT!!

Better living through chemistry!

 

[Earthgoddess]

HHMM,I have a small child and two rather odd cats,won't they eat and therefore be made ill by the boric acid...Well perhaps if I set it up really high, but then will the fruit flies find it...I cater from home so our house is very clean...except now as hordes of fruit flies hover in my computer room...AAARRGGHHH

 

[Magic Merlin]

Earthgoddess,

There is another choice. Its called diatamaceous earth - its an abrasive, white powder prepared from naturally occurring geological deposits formed by the silicified skeletons of diatoms. Its totally nontoxic and will not harm animals or children.

As a kid, my dad and grandfather found many uses for it around the ranch. Primarily, they used to add it to cattle feed at times to help with the indigestion. They used it to dust animals if they had parasites. Around the yard we used to sprinkle it in a two foot strip around the perimeter of our house. You wouldn't see an insect all summer. In the case of lawn fleas, you sprinkle it on the lawn. There gone.

It works by drying up the insects. Not pretty, but effective. I've tasted it as a kid. Tastes like a ground up rock.

My mother would use it in the house whenever we had fruit flies (they are extremely annoying). She would sprinkle it around any fruit or where ever she thought the source might be. Gone within a day or so. Most home and garden stores will carry it. Or farm stores?

 

[Shintani]

Time flies like an arrow...fruit flies like a banana (or a grape, in your case!)

 

[Fubar]

use for dead cat number 21

Get the dead cat, stick it in the room and all the flies will be attracted to it. Simple really

 

[Lasher]

HHMM,I have a small child and two rather odd cats,won't they eat and therefore be made ill by the boric acid...

Well, that's the downfall of the "earth conscious" (an unfortunate misnomer, but I'll save that for another rant), they are far more susceptible to the ill effects of modern chemistry than those of us who have embraced it whole heartedly. Over the years you do build up a tolerance to the milder effects of said chemicals.

For some unknown reason, the month of May brings about a barrage of ants in our apartment here (my wife spotted the advanced guard tonite), and we are preparing our counterstrike with a wide variety of chemicals that by themselves are fairly nasty, but in combination I'm sure produce some fantastic side effects that are quite unimaginable. It is a battle we are quite confident in winning.

Btw, we have 2 wonderfully healthy cats (our oldest will be 11 in June..where do the years go?), and they seem to enjoy ant season almost as much as we do (particularly the youngest).

I could start telling stories about red meat and unwashed vegetables if anyone would like to hear them!

 

[Earthgoddess]

Thank you all for your help...I would have used the skeletons of diatoms if I could find the lair of the flies...Thank you for the compassionate use for a dead cat but we are fresh out at the moment...However our 15 year old kitty is looking a bit frail...Lasher the best thing I found for ants is geckos..yeah,sure then you've got a lizard infestation but they are so cute when their little suctioned feet get stuck onto things...and the cats would love them...As far as better living through chemicals I agree, we looked into various Army nerve toxins but after the disasterous flea bombing of last summer(I was the only one affected)the convulsions and drooling were really a tad unpleasant, but then all the fleas leapt onto my prone figure. And so it was effective as the fleas died after consuming my contaminated blood...We eat unwashed fruit all the time in fact to encourage bacterial challenges. I personally consume red meat almost daily...In fact my husband has considered installing a cow in the backyard to alleviate those late night runs to the meat packing plant...My little boy and I spend hours cracking bones and extracting the marrow with our long pointed tongues...And nothing gets the neighbors' attention like our late night carnivore fests and the intermittant howling...Luckily the local parks no longer seem to have a problem with the deer population...(picking a chunk of rabbit out of her enlarged canines,delicately)...So as I said thank you all for your help, my son solved the problem by eating his hermit crab,with drawn butter and a squeeze of lime...And I found an herbal bug repellant-citronella so I wear that as I type and the hordes of flies are no longer as annoying...Once again thank you everyone...hugs and kisses

 

[Sonora]

MM, this "diatamaceous earth" stuff, does it get rid of moles too? Or the insects that they eat? I've tried so many things to get rid of them and they just mock my every attempt.

It's a real adventure walking through my yard!!

 

[Magic Merlin]

Hi Sonora,

No, sorry but it doesn't get rid of anything but insects, unfortunately. You have to sprinkle it on dry. If it rains or you water your lawn after you apply it, it washes off. However, it will get rid of most insects including slugs, snails, spiders, earwigs, ants (even Aunt Dorothy)(sorry, bad attempt at humor

). You have to spread it so that the insects crawl through it. If it gets wet you have to re-apply it.

I sympathize with your mole problem, I have them too. They sure are tough little devils. I tried a bazooka the other night, and the little bugger flipped me off....

MM

 

[Gil]

EG,

Buy a bottle of red wine vinegar and punch a hole in the top, or take out the cardboard insert and punch a hole in it and replace it on the mouth of the bottle. Set it near your computer. No more fruit flies. Organic too!

 

[Earthgoddess]

MM red wine vinegar you say?? Well in all actuality we solved the fruit fly problem...I was a bad Deity and spent way too much time sqirting them with vinegar and water...newspaper cleaned the carcasses off the screen and now I am sitting in a computer room full of siliconized diatoms, boric acid, and red wine vinegar. I also have been scoping the web on herbal bug repellants...tip for the moles is to release weasels in the yard...I feel so grateful that all my friends responded to help me...I love you guys*wipes little iridescent tears from her cheeks*

So I am off to concoct a salade compose so my lovely vinegar gets used and then go sailing...will check in later.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by earthgoddess:
HHMM,I have a small child and two rather odd cats,won't they eat and therefore be made ill by the boric acid...

Boric Acid is inert to pets and chilren. It dries the little beggers out. The best part is, as they ineract and mate, etc., they pass the dust to each other.

AJ

 

[Guest]

Can't edit my own damn message.

It dries out the bugs, not the kids and pets. It is great for ants since they carry the dust back to the queen. No more nest.

As far as moles, it is a common misconception that many runs mean many moles when one mole is doing all the damage. Use a mole trap on a fresh run. Push down the hill, set the trap, bang, it goes off, you pull the trap out, and problem over. No mole, no messy corpse, no more hills. They really are solitary little creatures except for the neccessary mating part.

AJ

 

[Golden]

to do that, AJ, you gotta register - won't take long, doesn't hurt, and we all like it that way, so go on, take the plunge and become a virgin!

 

[Sammyjo]

What difference does it make if she registers or not? we obviously can't trust the registered users anymore than we can trust the unregistered ones....I say don't register!!! Who cares anyways?

SJ

I know this doesn't have anything to do with fruit flies....fruits maybe, but not flies....

 

[Earthgoddess]

SammyJo very pithy...now my original post has really expanded..thank you again to everyone who checked this out.